Becoming Crunchy

Posts Tagged ‘garden variety mama’

Image by kateausburn via Flickr

I’m joining in with Amandra Metro, TouchstoneZ, and SchmoopyBaby in being thankful until “I absolutely exude gratitude”.

I must say ever since I started joining in with these posts 3 weeks ago I’ve seen quite an attitude shift in my life…guess they weren’t lying when they said to count your blessings!

This week I’ve been particularly grateful that I have so many amazing people to speak into my life and learn from, so I thought in this post and a few others upcoming that I would highlight some of those specific people and why I’m grateful for them.

So here goes…

This week I am grateful for: Read the rest of this entry »

Image by karimian via Flickr

Starting Monday, May 9th, the hubs and I embarked on an experimental 2 weeks of going grain free.

There are many reasons for this. I’ve been inspired by a few bloggers and Facebook friends. I’m trying to lose weight so I can win some cloth diapers. I like to try new things.

But the main motivation behind it all is that I am also – duh duh – trying to cut out sugar.

Here’s the thing…when people were first suggesting the idea of going grain free to me, I was not interested. You see, if bread was a person, I would marry him. Or her. I wouldn’t care. I adore bread. I could live off bread.

Are you getting the picture here?

But then I read this article shared by Garden Variety Mama (one of the many bloggers I heart): Is Sugar Toxic?

I had always planned to keep sugar from the Bean until she was at least 2 years old, and this article made me start thinking it would be good to cut it out for myself too. I actually don’t have a huge sweet tooth, but every so often, that mini chocolate cake in the grocery store bakery calls my name, and I usually answer.

That’s part of why my journey to become more healthy has been something of a rocky one. I’ve had many successes – only 3 diet cokes consumed over the past 2 months; fast food only once. We’ve been eating a ton more veggies and fruits, a ton more home cooked, unprocessed foods…but then I get stressed or tired or lazy or just craving and I buy crap. And then I eat it. (Lovely picture, no?). Read the rest of this entry »

The Ham I Baked Today - 1950's Style Awesomeness

What a week!

Earth week, mama cloth reviews and a giveaway (still lots of time to enter!), an Earth Day Blog Carnival, guest posting at The Cloth Diapering Mama, The Great Cloth Diaper Change, and Easter!

Can I have another weekend please?

In spite of being tired (and still quite full), I feel almost ready for a new week to begin – just need a quick recap of the weekend first!

Bean came down with a bit of a cold and was miserable Friday night, so Saturday night we added some eucalyptus and lavender essential oil to the humidifier and it seemed to help quite a bit…she’s almost back to her normal self today (though we are still getting more nighttime wakeups than usual…poor Bean!). I was very thankful to mamas on Facebook for their helpful advice, though I DO have a bit of a beef to share!

Here’s the thing – I posed the exact same question on two pages (essentially: Bean has cold; natural remedies; how much oil should I put in the humidifier). On one page (an AP/natural parenting page that allows fans to post questions and get advice from other fans), I specifically stated that breastfeeding was not an option for us – I knew that if I didn’t, the answers would probably be filled with bf’ing remedies (not that I have anything at all against that – it just wasn’t something that was going to be helpful to me!). Read the rest of this entry »

Gotta love free food samples!

So far it’s been a pretty great weekend…I had the chance to head downtown to the Toronto Green Living Show on Friday with my MIL and brother-in-law (and the Bean, of course!) and hubby is interested enough that we’re going to stop by again for a few hours today on the way to visit some friends.

It’s always fun to get a chance to see all the exhibits of various things green (though I do find it rather ironic to look at the pile of paper pamphlets and fliers I came home with…hopefully most of it’s made from recycled paper!).

I got a chance to try Kefir – something I heard of only recently, and may look into incorporating it into my diet. Bean tried some carrot juice (she was a fan) and some banana baby yogurt (not a fan), and of course I got all kinds of fun food samples (favorite was the sheep cheese…I really like sheep cheese ).

I also purchased some Indian spices from Arvinda’s – very much looking forward to trying out some of her recipes, and 2 SmartKlean laundry balls – something I have been intrigued by for awhile now (I’ll do a review once I’ve had the chance to try them out for a bit).

Yesterday was mostly a cleaning day, along with a bit of rearranging in the living room, but I got a chance to relax and read a novel too, which feels like something I haven’t done in awhile.

Along with that, I’ve been reading a lot of great posts this week – so without further ado, here’s your Sunday Surf! Read the rest of this entry »

At least, Jessica at The Cloth Diapering Mama thinks so. She was so kind to pass on the Stylish Blogger Award to Becoming Crunchy – it gives me warm fuzzy feelings down to my toes!

I am thrilled to accept this award and its pay it forward concept, which involves the following 4 steps:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 10-15 blogs you feel deserve the award.
4. Contact these bloggers and let them know about the award.

So first of all – thank you to the Cloth Diapering Mama! She’s got some awesome stuff going on over at her blog – be sure to go check it out!

Now…7 things about me… Read the rest of this entry »

No poo!

A few weeks ago I posted about going No Poo - basically using baking soda and apple cider vinegar to wash my hair instead of toxin-laden regular shampoos or super expensive organic products.

Starting today, I’m committing to 2 months (at least) of No Poo.

I’m actually super excited about it because I have a partner in crime – my new friend Delena over at The Modern Aboriginal Mama – she’s going No Poo with me today!

(We would love to have you join in too!)

Yesterday I assembled everything I could to make this transition as easy as possible:

• I bought a pitcher with a pop top for the baking soda – I hate trying to get baking soda out of that little cardboard flap, and I figured the lid on the pitcher will help keep the humidity from turning it into baking soda rocks.
• I moved an old plastic measuring cup up to the shower so I can mix up the apple cider vinegar and water right there (I am not always that bright – when I originally tried this for a few days awhile ago I mixed up the proportions downstairs and brought them up with me – when I dumped it over my head it was freezing! Yes…I know…but I make these confessions so that if someone else has mommy brain like me I might be able to save them from making that particular dumb move )
• And I mixed up a natural detangler based on a recipe I found on Livestrong.com – I have no idea if it works yet, but here’s hoping!

My first test will be tonight after my swim. Read the rest of this entry »